WASHINGTON, DC -- With gas prices rising and worries over our dependence on foreign oil increasing, figures released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show the 2006 model year American vehicles made no improvement in overall fuel efficiency, underscoring the need for stronger fuel economy standards.

“American families have few options to save money at the pump, and automakers aren’t giving our country a real chance to cut our oil dependence,” said Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “We need to enact stronger fuel economy standards now to save families money, cut pollution, and reduce our dangerous dependence on oil.”

The figures released by NHTSA indicate that, based on mid-year model sales, the 25.4 miles per gallon fleet average shows no improvement over the 2005 levels. The data reveals an increase in sales in fuel-thirsty cars offsetting sales of slightly more efficient trucks.

“These numbers show that raising fuel economy in all our cars and trucks is the only way to give American families a fighting chance at the pump,” continued Rep. Markey. “When your choice is a gas-guzzler, a gas-guzzler or a 4-door gas-guzzler, that’s not going to help anyone.”

To further enhance America’s national security and reduce global warming pollution, Rep. Markey has also joined with Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA) to introduce the Fuel Economy Reform Act, H.R. 1506. The bipartisan Markey-Platts legislation, which has 113 House cosponsors, would raise fuel economy standards 4 percent per year, reaching 35 miles per gallon (mpg) fleet-wide average by 2018. The bill also calls on NHSTA to continue to increase fuel economy standards by 4% each year, which would result in the combined car and light truck fleet reaching a fuel efficiency of 40 mpg by 2022, which would save us the same amount of oil that America currently imports from the Persian Gulf.